Control unit with automatic setback capability

ABSTRACT

Methods for controlling temperature in a conditioned enclosure such as a dwelling are described that include an “auto-away” and/or “auto-arrival” feature for detecting unexpected absences which provide opportunities for significant energy savings through automatic adjustment of the setpoint temperature. According to some preferred embodiments, when no occupancy has been detected for a minimum time interval, an “auto-away” feature triggers a changes of the state of the enclosure, and the actual operating setpoint temperature is changed to a predetermined energy-saving away-state temperature, regardless of the setpoint temperature indicated by the normal thermostat schedule. The purpose of the “auto away” feature is to avoid unnecessary heating or cooling when there are no occupants present to actually experience or enjoy the comfort settings of the schedule, thereby saving energy.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.13/279,151, filed Oct. 21, 2011, which claims the benefit of U.S. Prov.Ser. No. 61/415,771 filed Nov. 19, 2010; and of U.S. Prov. Ser. No.61/429,093 filed Dec. 31, 2010, each of which is incorporated byreference herein. The subject matter of this patent specificationrelates to the subject matter of the following commonly assignedapplications: U.S. Ser. No. 12/881,430 filed Sep. 14, 2010; U.S. Ser.No. 12/881,463 filed Sep. 14, 2010; U.S. Ser. No. 12/984,602 filed Jan.4, 2011; U.S. Ser. No. 12/987,257 filed Jan. 10, 2011; U.S. Ser. No.13/033,573 filed Feb. 23, 2011; U.S. Ser. No. 29/386,021, filed Feb. 23,2011; U.S. Ser. No. 13/034,666, U.S. Ser. No. 13/034,674 and U.S. Ser.No. 13/034,678 filed Feb. 24, 2011; U.S. Ser. No. 13/038,191 filed Mar.1, 2011; U.S. Ser. No. 13/038,206 filed Mar. 1, 2011; U.S. Ser. No.29/399,609 filed Aug. 16, 2011; U.S. Ser. No. 29/399,614 filed Aug. 16,2011; U.S. Ser. No. 29/399,617 filed Aug. 16, 2011; U.S. Ser. No.29/399,618 filed Aug. 16, 2011; U.S. Ser. No. 29/399,621 filed Aug. 16,2011; U.S. Ser. No. 29/399,623 filed Aug. 16, 2011; U.S. Ser. No.29/399,625 filed Aug. 16, 2011; U.S. Ser. No. 29/399,627 filed Aug. 16,2011; U.S. Ser. No. 29/399,630 filed Aug. 16, 2011; U.S. Ser. No.29/399,632 filed Aug. 16, 2011; U.S. Ser. No. 29/399,633 filed Aug. 16,2011; U.S. Ser. No. 29/399,636 filed Aug. 16, 2011; U.S. Ser. No.29/399,637 filed Aug. 16, 2011; U.S. Ser. No. 13/199,108, filed Aug. 17,2011; U.S. Ser. No. 13/267,871 filed Oct. 6, 2011; U.S. Ser. No.13/267,877 filed Oct. 6, 2011; U.S. Ser. No. 13/269,501 filed Oct. 7,2011; U.S. Ser. No. 29/399,609 filed Oct. 14, 2011; U.S. Ser. No.29/399,614 filed Oct. 14, 2011; U.S. Ser. No. 29/399,617 filed Oct. 14,2011; U.S. Ser. No. 29/399,618 filed Oct. 14, 2011; U.S. Ser. No.29/399,621 filed Oct. 14, 2011; U.S. Ser. No. 29/399,623 filed Oct. 14,2011; U.S. Ser. No. 29/399,625 filed Oct. 14, 2011; U.S. Ser. No.29/399,627 filed Oct. 14, 2011; U.S. Ser. No. 13/275,307 filed Oct. 17,2011; U.S. Ser. No. 13/275,311 filed Oct. 17, 2011; U.S. Ser. No.13/317,423 filed Oct. 17, 2011; and U.S. Ser. No. 61/627,996 filed Oct.21, 2011. Each of the above-referenced patent applications isincorporated by reference herein. The above-referenced patentapplications are collectively referenced hereinbelow as “the commonlyassigned incorporated applications.”

FIELD

This invention relates generally to the monitoring and control of HVACsystems and/or for other systems for controlling household utilities,and/or resources. More particularly, embodiments of this inventionrelate to systems, methods and related computer program products forfacilitating detecting periods of non-occupancy and automaticallysetting setpoint temperatures using a control device such as athermostat.

BACKGROUND

While substantial effort and attention continues toward the developmentof newer and more sustainable energy supplies, the conservation ofenergy by increased energy efficiency remains crucial to the world'senergy future. According to an October 2010 report from the U.S.Department of Energy, heating and cooling account for 56% of the energyuse in a typical U.S. home, making it the largest energy expense formost homes. Along with improvements in the physical plant associatedwith home heating and cooling (e.g., improved insulation, higherefficiency furnaces), substantial increases in energy efficiency can beachieved by better control and regulation of home heating and coolingequipment. By activating heating, ventilation, and air conditioning(HVAC) equipment for judiciously selected time intervals and carefullychosen operating levels, substantial energy can be saved while at thesame time keeping the living space suitably comfortable for itsoccupants.

Programmable thermostats have become more prevalent in recent years inview of Energy Star (US) and TCO (Europe) standards, and which haveprogressed considerably in the number of different settings for an HVACsystem that can be individually manipulated. Some programmablethermostats have standard default programs built in. Additionally, usersare able to adjust the manufacturer defaults to optimize their ownenergy usage. Ideally, a schedule is used that accurately reflects theusual behavior of the occupants in terms of sleeping, waking and periodsof non-occupancy. Due to difficulty in programming many thermostats,however, may schedules do not accurately reflect the usual behavior ofthe occupants. For example, the schedule may not account for some usualperiods of non-occupancy. Additionally, even when a suitable schedule isprogrammed into the thermostat, inevitably there are departures fromusual behavior. The user can manually set back the thermostat whenleaving the house and then resume the schedule upon returning, but manyusers never or very seldom perform these tasks. Thus an opportunity forenergy and cost savings exist if a thermostat can automatically set backthe setpoint temperature during time of non-occupancy.

U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2010/0019051 A1 discussesoverriding of nonoccupancy status in a thermostat device based uponanalysis or recent patterns of occupancy. The publication discusses a“safety time,” for example during the nighttime hours in a hotel ormotel room, during which requirements to maintain a condition ofoccupancy are relaxed based on pattern recognition analysis. A“hysteresis” period of typically less than a few minutes can be builtinto the motion sensor to establish occupancy for some period after anymotion is detected or signaled. An increased hysteresis period can beused during safety times such as during the evening and night hours. Thefocus is mainly on reliably detecting when occupants return from anabsence.

SUMMARY

According to some embodiments a method for controlling temperature in aconditioned enclosure such as a dwelling is described. The methodincludes controlling temperature within the conditioned space accordingto a first setpoint, the first setpoint being from a preexistingschedule and representing a temperature suitable when one or morepersons are occupying the conditioned space; receiving data reflectingone or more occupancy sensors adapted to detect occupancy within theconditioned enclosure; and automatically changing the setpointtemperature to a second setpoint upon expiration of a predetermined timeinterval during which no occupancy has been detected, the secondsetpoint requiring substantially less energy to maintain than the firstsetpoint.

The predetermined time interval is preferably 60 minutes or greater, andmore preferably between about 90 minutes and 180 minutes. According tosome embodiments, the predetermined time interval is about 120 minutes.The predetermined time interval can be modified based on prior receiveddata and prior automatic changes of setpoints in the conditionedenclosure, and also based on received manual changes that override priorautomatic changes of setpoints.

According to some embodiments, the method can also include automaticallychanging the setpoint temperature to a third setpoint upon expiration ofa second predetermined time interval during which no occupancy has bedetected, thus likely indicating occupants are on vacation or othermulti-day trip. The third setpoint using substantially less energy tomaintain then the second setpoint, and the second time interval can be24 hours or longer.

As used herein the term “HVAC” includes systems providing both heatingand cooling, heating only, cooling only, as well as systems that provideother occupant comfort and/or conditioning functionality such ashumidification, dehumidification and ventilation.

As used herein the term “residential” when referring to an HVAC systemmeans a type of HVAC system that is suitable to heat, cool and/orotherwise condition the interior of a building that is primarily used asa single family dwelling. An example of a cooling system that would beconsidered residential would have a cooling capacity of less than about5 tons of refrigeration (1 ton of refrigeration=12,000 Btu/h).

As used herein the term “light commercial” when referring to an HVACsystem means a type of HVAC system that is suitable to heat, cool and/orotherwise condition the interior of a building that is primarily usedfor commercial purposes, but is of a size and construction that aresidential HVAC system is considered suitable. An example of a coolingsystem that would be considered residential would have a coolingcapacity of less than about 5 tons of refrigeration.

As used herein the term “thermostat” means a device or system forregulating parameters such as temperature and/or humidity within atleast a part of an enclosure. The term “thermostat” may include acontrol unit for a heating and/or cooling system or a component part ofa heater or air conditioner. As used herein the them “thermostat” canalso refer generally to a versatile sensing and control unit (VSCU unit)that is configured and adapted to provide sophisticated, customized,energy-saving HVAC control functionality while at the same time beingvisually appealing, non-intimidating, elegant to behold, anddelightfully easy to use.

It will be appreciated that these systems and methods are novel, as areapplications thereof and many of the components, systems, methods andalgorithms employed and included therein. It should be appreciated thatembodiments of the presently described inventive body of work can beimplemented in numerous ways, including as processes, apparata, systems,devices, methods, computer readable media, computational algorithms,embedded or distributed software and/or as a combination thereof.Several illustrative embodiments are described below.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The inventive body of work will be readily understood by referring tothe following detailed description in conjunction with the accompanyingdrawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a diagram of an enclosure in which environmental conditionsare controlled, according to some embodiments;

FIG. 2 is a diagram of an HVAC system, according to some embodiments;

FIGS. 3A-B illustrate a thermostat having a user-friendly interface,according to some embodiments;

FIGS. 4A-D illustrate time plots of a normal setpoint temperatureschedule versus an actual operating setpoint plot corresponding to anexemplary operation of an “auto away/auto arrival” algorithm accordingto some embodiments;

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating various states a conditioned enclosuremay be classified into, according to some embodiments;

FIGS. 6A-F illustrate time plots of a normal setpoint temperatureschedule versus an actual operating setpoint plot corresponding to anexemplary operation of an “auto away/auto arrival” algorithm, accordingto so some embodiments;

FIGS. 7A-7D illustrate one example of setpoint schedule modificationbased on occupancy patterns and/or corrective manual input patternsassociated with repeated instances of “auto-away” and/or “auto-arrival”triggering according to some embodiments;

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating various states a conditioned enclosuremay be classified into, according to some preferred embodiments;

FIG. 9 illustrates plots that relate to the determination of optimaltime thresholds for (i) triggering an auto-away state, and (ii)temporarily inhibiting an auto-arrival state upon entry into anauto-away state, according to some embodiments;

FIG. 10A illustrates an enclosure, such as a family home, which hasthree thermostats connected to two different HVAC systems, according tosome embodiments; and

FIG. 10B illustrates examples of implementation of auto-awayfunctionality for multi-thermostat installation settings, according tosome embodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

A detailed description of the inventive body of work is provided below.While several embodiments are described, it should be understood thatthe inventive body of work is not limited to any one embodiment, butinstead encompasses numerous alternatives, modifications, andequivalents. In addition, while numerous specific details are set forthin the following description in order to provide a thoroughunderstanding of the inventive body of work, some embodiments can bepracticed without some or all of these details. Moreover, for thepurpose of clarity, certain technical material that is known in therelated art has not been described in detail in order to avoidunnecessarily obscuring the inventive body of work.

FIG. 1 is a diagram of an enclosure in which environmental conditionsare controlled, according to some embodiments. Enclosure 100, in thisexample is a single-family dwelling. According to other embodiments, theenclosure can be, for example, a duplex, an apartment within anapartment building, a light commercial structure such as an office orretail store, or a structure or enclosure that is a combination of theabove. Thermostat 110 controls HVAC system 120 as will be described infurther detail below. According to some embodiments, the HVAC system 120is has a cooling capacity less than about 5 tons. According to someembodiments, a remote device 112 wirelessly communicates with thethermostat 110 and can be used to display information to a user and toreceive user input from the remote location of the device 112. Althoughmany of the embodiments are described herein as being carried out by athermostat such as thermostat 110, according to some embodiments, thesame or similar techniques are employed using a remote device such asdevice 112.

FIG. 2 is a diagram of an HVAC system, according to some embodiments.HVAC system 120 provides heating, cooling, ventilation, and/or airhandling for the enclosure, such as a single-family home 100 depicted inFIG. 1. The system 120 depicts a forced air type heating system,although according to other embodiments, other types of systems could beused. In heating, heating coils or elements 242 within air handler 240provide a source of heat using electricity or gas via line 236. Cool airis drawn from the enclosure via return air duct 246 through filter 270,using fan 238 and is heated heating coils or elements 242. The heatedair flows back into the enclosure at one or more locations via supplyair duct system 252 and supply air grills such as grill 250. In cooling,an outside compressor 230 passes gas such a Freon through a set of heatexchanger coils to cool the gas. The gas then goes to the cooling coils234 in the air handlers 240 where it expands, cools and cools the airbeing circulated through the enclosure via fan 238. According to someembodiments a humidifier 254 is also provided. Although not shown inFIG. 2, according to some embodiments the HVAC system has other knownfunctionality such as venting air to and from the outside, and one ormore dampers to control airflow within the duct systems. The system iscontrolled by algorithms implemented via control electronics 212 thatcommunicate with a thermostat 110. Thermostat 110 controls the HVACsystem 120 through a number of control circuits. Thermostat 110 alsoincludes a processing system 260 such as a microprocessor that isadapted and programmed to controlling the HVAC system and to carry outthe techniques described in detail herein.

FIGS. 3A-B illustrate a thermostat having a user-friendly interface,according to some embodiments. Unlike so many prior art thermostats,thermostat 300 preferably has a sleek, simple, uncluttered and elegantdesign that does not detract from home decoration, and indeed can serveas a visually pleasing centerpiece for the immediate location in whichit is installed. Moreover user interaction with thermostat 300 isfacilitated and greatly enhanced over conventional designs by the designof thermostat 300. The thermostat 300 includes control circuitry and iselectrically connected to an HVAC system, such as is shown withthermostat 110 in FIGS. 1 and 2. Thermostat 300 is wall mounted and hascircular in shape and has an outer rotatable ring 312 for receiving userinput. Thermostat 300 has a large frontal display area 314. According tosome embodiments, thermostat 300 is approximately 80 mm in diameter. Theouter rotating ring 312 allows the user to make adjustments, such asselecting a new target temperature. For example, by rotating the outerring 312 clockwise, the target temperature can be increased, and byrotating the outer ring 312 counter-clockwise, the target temperaturecan be decreased. Within the outer ring 312 is a clear cover 314 whichaccording to some embodiments is polycarbonate. Also within the rotatingring 312 is a metallic portion 324, preferably having a number ofwindows as shown. According to some embodiments, the surface of cover314 and metallic portion 324 form a curved spherical shape gently arcingoutward that matches a portion of the surface of rotating ring 312.

According to some embodiments, the cover 314 is painted or smoked aroundthe outer portion, but leaving a central display 316 clear so as tofacilitate display of information to users. According to someembodiments, the curved cover 314 acts as a lens which tends to magnifythe information being displayed in display 316 to users. According tosome embodiments central display 316 is a dot-matrix layout(individually addressable) such that arbitrary shapes can be generated,rather than being a segmented layout. According to some embodiments, acombination of dot-matrix layout and segmented layout is employed.According to some embodiments, central display 316 is a backlit colorliquid crystal display (LCD). An example of information is shown in FIG.3A, which are central numerals 320. According to some embodiments,metallic portion 324 has number of openings so as to allow the use of apassive infrared proximity sensor 330 mounted beneath the portion 324.The motion sensor as well as other techniques can be use used to detectand/or predict occupancy, as is described further in co-pending patentapplication U.S. Ser. No. 12/881,430, which is incorporated by referenceherein. According to some embodiments, occupancy information is used ingenerating an effective and efficient scheduled program. According tosome embodiments, proximity and ambient light sensors 370A and 370B areprovided to sense visible and near-infrared light. The sensors 370A and370B can be used to detect proximity in the range of about one meter sothat the thermostat 300 can initiate “waking up” when a user isapproaching the thermostat and prior to the user touching thethermostat. Such use of proximity sensing is useful for enhancing theuser experience by being “ready” for interaction as soon as, or verysoon after the user is ready to interact with the thermostat. Further,the wake-up-on-proximity functionality also allows for energy savingswithin the thermostat by “sleeping” when no user interaction is takingplace our about to take place.

According to some embodiments, for the combined purposes of inspiringuser confidence and further promoting visual and functional elegance,the thermostat 300 is controlled by only two types of user input, thefirst being a rotation of the outer ring 312 as shown in FIG. 3A(referenced hereafter as a “rotate ring” input), and the second being aninward push on the upper cap 308 (FIG. 3B) until an audible and/ortactile “click” occurs (referenced hereafter as an “inward click”input). For further details of suitable user-interfaces and relateddesigns which are employed, according to some embodiments, seeco-pending patent application U.S. Ser. No. 13/033,573 and U.S. Ser. No.29/386,021, both filed Feb. 23, 2011, and are incorporated herein byreference.

According to some embodiments, the thermostat 300 includes a processingsystem 360, display driver 364 and a wireless communications system 366.The processing system 360 is adapted to cause the display driver 364 anddisplay area 316 to display information to the user, and to receiveruser input via the rotating ring 312. The processing system 360,according to some embodiments, is capable of maintaining and updating athermodynamic model for the enclosure in which the HVAC system isinstalled. For further detail on the thermodynamic modeling, see U.S.patent Ser. No. 12/881,463 filed, which is incorporated by referenceherein. According to some embodiments, the wireless communicationssystem 366 is used to communicate with devices such as personalcomputers and/or other thermostats or HVAC system components.

Provided according to some embodiments are algorithms for setpointschedule departure and/or setpoint schedule modification based on sensedenclosure occupancy and user setpoint modification behaviors. Oneexample of such a setpoint schedule departure algorithm, termed hereinan “auto away/auto arrival” algorithm, is described further hereinbelow.

FIGS. 4A-D illustrate time plots of a normal setpoint temperatureschedule versus an actual operating setpoint plot corresponding to anexemplary operation of an “auto away/auto arrival” algorithm accordingto some embodiments. Shown in FIG. 4A, for purposes of clarity ofdisclosure, is a relatively simple exemplary thermostat schedule 402 fora particular weekday, such as a Tuesday, for a user (perhaps a retiree,or a stay-at-home parent with young children). The schedule 402 simplyconsists of an awake/at home interval between 7:00 AM and 9:00 PM forwhich the desired temperature is 76 degrees, and a sleeping intervalbetween 9:00 PM and 7:00 AM for which the desired temperature is 66degrees. For purposes of the instant description, the schedule 402 canbe termed the “normal” setpoint schedule. The normal setpoint schedule402 could have been established by any of a variety of methods describedpreviously in one or more of the commonly assigned incorporatedapplications, or by some other method. For example, the normal setpointschedule 402 could have been established explicitly by direct userprogramming (e.g., using the Web interface), by setup interview in whichthe setpoint schedule is “snapped” into one of a plurality ofpredetermined schedules (e.g., retiree, working couple without kids,single city dweller, etc.), by automated learning, or by any of avariety of other methods.

In accordance with a preferred “auto away” algorithm, an enclosureoccupancy state is continuously and automatically sensed using thethermostat's multi-sensing technology, such as the passive infraredproximity sensor 330 shown in FIG. 3A. According to some embodiments theoccupancy sensor makes measurements at fairly high frequencies—such as1-2 Hz. The measurements are then collected into “buckets” of a lengthof time such as 5 minutes. A simple algorithm is used to determine foreach “bucket” whether occupancy is detected or not. For example, if morethan two sensor readings in a bucket show detected movement, then the 5minute “bucket” is regarded as “occupancy detected.” Thus, each “bucket”is classified into one of two states: “occupancy detected” or “nooccupancy detected.” According to some embodiments a certain thresholdpercentage of readings must indicate movement in order for the bucket tobe classified as “occupancy detected.” For example, it may be found thateven with relatively poor placement, around 10 percent of the readingsindicate movement when the conditioned enclosure is occupied. In thisexample, a threshold of 5 percent may be used to classify the bucket as“occupancy detected.”

According to some embodiments, based at least in part on the currentlysensed states of the buckets, the thermostat classifies the enclosure orconditioned space into one of four states: “Home” (also known as“occupied”); “Away-Normal” (also known as “unoccupied” or “awayintra-day”); “Away-Vacation” (also known as “away inter-day”); and“Sleep.” According to some preferred embodiments, when the currentlysensed occupancy has been “no occupancy detected” for a predeterminedminimum interval, termed herein an away-state confidence window (ASCW),then an “auto-away” feature triggers a changes of the state of theenclosure from “Home” to “Away-Normal.” As a result of the state changeto “Away-Normal” the actual operating setpoint temperature is changed toa predetermined energy-saving away-state temperature (AST), regardlessof the setpoint temperature indicated by the normal thermostat schedule.

The purpose of the “auto away” feature is to avoid unnecessary heatingor cooling when there are no occupants present to actually experience orenjoy the comfort settings of the schedule 402, thereby saving energy.The AST may be set, by way of example, to a default predetermined valueof 62 degrees for winter periods (or outside temperatures that wouldcall for heating) and 84 degrees for summer periods (or outsidetemperatures that would call for cooling). Optionally, the ASTtemperatures for heating and cooling can be user-settable.

The away-state confidence window (ASCW) corresponds to a time intervalof sensed non-occupancy after which a reasonably reliable operatingassumption can be made, with a reasonable degree of statisticalaccuracy, that there are indeed no occupants in the enclosure. For mosttypical enclosures, it has been found that a predetermined period in therange of 90-180 minutes is a suitable period for the ASCW, toaccommodate for common situations such as quiet book reading, steppingout to the corner mailbox, short naps, etc. in which there is no sensedmovement or related indication for the occupancy sensors to sense.

According to some embodiment the ASCW is automatically adjustedfollowing learning events. For example, according to one embodiment, theASCW is lengthened by a predetermined amount (e.g. 10-30 minutes)following a manual “punishing” event—i.e. following an change to“Away-Normal” mode, the user manually sets the setpoint temperature tomaintain comfort, thus indicating that the enclosure is occupied despitethe occupancy detection sensors indicating otherwise. Similarly,according to some embodiments, the ASCW can be shortened upon severalrepeated switches to “Away-Normal” state in the absence of any manual“punishing” event. Such modification of the ASCW can be used to betteradapt the algorithm to the particular tendencies of the occupants and/orthe effectiveness of the occupancy sensing due to other factors such asphysical placement of the thermostat/sensor.

In the example of FIGS. 4A-4D, exemplary description is provided in thecontext of a heating scenario with an ASCW of 120 minutes, and an AST of62 degrees, with it to be understood that counterpart examples forcooling and for other ASCW/AST value selection would be apparent to aperson skilled in the art in view of the present description and arewithin the scope of the embodiments. Shown for purposes of illustrationin FIG. 4B is the scheduled setpoint plot 402 and actual operatingsetpoint plot 404, along with a sensed activity timeline (A_(S)) showingsmall black oval markers corresponding to sensed activity (i.e. the“buckets” of time where occupancy is sensed), that is current as of11:00 AM. Notably, as of 11:00 AM, there was significant user activitysensed up until 10:00 AM, followed by a one-hour interval 406 ofinactivity (or buckets classified as “no occupancy detected”). Since theinterval of inactivity in FIG. 4B is only about 1 hour, which is lessthan the ASCW, the “auto-away” feature does not yet trigger a change ofstate to the Away-Normal state.

Shown in FIG. 4C are the scheduled and actual setpoint plots as of 4:00PM. As illustrated in FIG. 4C, an “Away-Normal” mode was automaticallytriggered at 12:00 PM after 120 minutes of inactivity (120 minutes sincethe last “occupancy detected” bucket), the actual operating setpoint 404departing from the normal scheduled setpoint 402 to the AST temperatureof 62 degrees. As of 4:00 PM, no activity has yet been sensed subsequentto the triggering of the “Away-Normal” mode, and therefore the“Away-Normal” mode remains in effect.

Referring to FIG. 4D the scheduled and actual setpoint plots as of 12:00AM are shown following the example shown in and described with respectto FIGS. 4A-C. As illustrated in FIG. 4D, occupancy activity started tobe sensed for a brief time interval 408 at about 5 PM, which triggeredthe “auto-return” or “auto-arrival” switching the enclosure to “Home”state, at which point the actual operating setpoint 404 was returned tothe normal setpoint schedule 202.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating various states a conditioned enclosuremay be classified into, according to some embodiments. The thermostatclassifies the enclosure or conditioned space into one of four states:Home (510), also known as “occupied”; Away-Normal (512) also known as“unoccupied” or “away intra-day”; Away-Vacation (514), also known as“away inter-day”; and Sleep (520). During normal operation, theconditioned space is classified as either Home state 510 or the Sleepstate 520 according to the time of day and the normal schedule. TheSleep state 520 can be determined by predetermined hours, such as from12 PM to 6 AM, may be set by the user according to the user'spreferences, or may be set according to the current schedule, such asschedule 402 in FIG. 4A which reflects a Sleep state between the hoursof 9 PM and 7 AM.

The normal schedule is intended to account for the usual or expectedbehavior of the occupants. As described, a conditioned enclosure in theHome state 510, can be automatically changed to the Away-Normal state512 when an unexpected absence is detected in order to save resourcesand costs. As described, the change from Home state 510 to Away-Normalstat 512 can occur when non-occupancy is detected for the ASCW timeperiod. According to some embodiments, the Away-Normal state 512 modecan be changed based on sensed events, the passage of time, and/or othertriggers that are consistent with its essential purpose, the essentialpurpose being to save energy when no occupants, to a reasonably highstatistical degree of probability, are present in the enclosure. Forsome embodiments, the Away-Normal state 512 maintains the setpointtemperature at the energy-saving AST temperature until one of thefollowing occurs: (i) a manual corrective input is received from theuser which changes the state back to the Home state 510; (ii) an“auto-arrival” mode of operation is triggered based on sensed occupancyactivity which changes the state back to the Home state 510; (iii)normal occupant sleeping hours have arrived and a determination for a“vacation” mode has not yet been reached, which changes the state to theSleep state 520; or (iv) the setpoint is changed due to the normalschedule (e.g. the expected and scheduled arrival or waking of theoccupants) and a determination for a “vacation” mode has not yet beenreached.

According to some embodiments, a conditioned enclosure in theAway-Normal state 512 is changed to an Away-Vacation state 514 if theno-occupancy condition has been sensed for an extended predeterminedminimum interval, termed herein as the vacation-state confidence window(VSCW). During the Away-Vacation state 514, the setpoint temperature isset back to the away-vacation setpoint temperature (AVST) which is arelatively extreme energy conserving level. For example, according toone embodiment the AVST is by default 45 degrees F. during time whenheating is called for and 95 degrees F. during times when cooling iscalled for. The VSCW is normally set to be much longer than the ASCW.For example, in many cases a VSCW of 24 hours is appropriate. Accordingto some embodiments, the VSCW is variable, for example being 48 hours of60 hours during weekend periods from Friday afternoon to Sunday night. Alonger VSCW during weekend periods will reduce mistakenly changing thesetpoint temperature to the harsh AVST during shorter periods ofnon-occupancy such as a short weekend trip.

According to some embodiments, during the Sleep state 520, the auto-awayfeature becomes inactive, i.e. the state will never change directly fromSleep state 520, to Away-Normal state 512. Inactivating the auto-awayfeature avoids mistakenly changing the setpoint temperature to AST fromthe nighttime scheduled setpoint temperature when occupancy is notsensed. According to other embodiments, the occupancy sensing algorithmis altered during the Sleep state 520 so as to be less sensitive toinactivity when detecting non-occupancy due to the much lower expectedactivity level, and different activity patterns and locations during thetime when the occupants are sleeping. In one example, the ASCW is simplyextended during the Sleep state 520, to 4 hours or 6 hours. According toother embodiments, the threshold percentage of readings in each “bucket”of sensor readings is lowered so as to lower the probability of anerroneous classification of non-occupancy when the occupants are in factasleep.

FIGS. 6A-F illustrate time plots of a normal setpoint temperatureschedule versus an actual operating setpoint plot corresponding to anexemplary operation of an “auto away/auto arrival” algorithm, accordingto so some embodiments. Shown in FIG. 6A is a thermostat schedule 602for a particular weekday, such as a Wednesday, for a user who is notnormally home between the hours of 11 AM and 5 PM. The schedule 602consists of an awake/at home interval from 7:00 AM to 11:00 AM, andagain from 5:00 PM to 10:00 PM during which time the setpointtemperature is 72 degrees F. The sleep temperature and the mid-daytemperature are both set to 62 degrees F. In this example, the ASCW is90 minutes, and the AST is 60 degrees. It is to be understood thatcounterpart examples for cooling and for other ASCW/AST value selectionwould be apparent to a person skilled in the art in view of the presentdescription and are within the scope of the embodiments.

In FIG. 6B, the scheduled setpoint plot 602 is shown along with theactual operating setpoint plot 604. A sensed activity timeline (A_(S))showing small black oval markers corresponding to sensed activity (i.e.the “buckets” of time where occupancy is sensed), that is current as of2:00 PM. Notably, as of 2:00 PM, there was significant user activitysensed up until 8:00 AM, followed by an interval 606 of inactivity (orbuckets classified as “no occupancy detected”). Upon failure to detectoccupancy within the ASCW of 90 minutes, the “auto-away” feature istriggered at 9:30 AM and the state of the conditioned enclosure is setto Away-Normal state, with a setpoint change to the AST of 60 degrees F.

FIG. 6C shows the scheduled and actual setpoint plots 602 and 604,respectively, and sensed activity, that is current as of 9:00 PM. Notethat even though no activity was sensed at 5:00 PM the enclosure statewas changed to Home, and the setpoint was changed to match the scheduledsetpoint of 72 degrees. This switching back to Home or “occupied” statewithout sensing occupancy is provided since it is expected that theoccupants normally arrive home by 5:00 PM as reflected by the schedule602. Note that in the example shown in FIG. 6C activity was sensed againbeginning at about 6:15 PM.

FIG. 6D shows the scheduled and actual setpoint plots 602 and 604,respectively, and sensed activity, that is current as of 9:00 PM,according to a different example. In the example shown in FIG. 6D, nooccupancy is detected in the evening through the current time of 9:00PM. Accordingly after the passage of the ASCW, at 6:30 PM the state ofthe conditioned enclosure is changed to Away-Normal, and the setpoint ischanged to the AST of 60 degrees.

FIG. 6E shows the scheduled and actual setpoint plots 602 and 604,respectively, and sensed activity, that is current as of 12:00 PM,according to the example shown in FIG. 6D. In this example, no occupancyis detected in the evening through the current time of 12:00 PM. At10:00 PM the scheduled setpoint change is encountered which causes thesetpoint of the thermostat to change to the sleep setpoint temperatureof 62 degrees. Since 10:00 PM is the start of the Sleep state, accordingto this example, the auto-away feature becomes inactive.

FIG. 6F shows the scheduled and actual setpoint plots 602 and 604,respectively, and sensed activity, that is current as of 11:00 PM on thenext day (Thursday), according to the example shown in FIGS. 6D-E. Inthis example, no occupancy has been detected during the entire period606 between 8:00 AM Wednesday and 11:00 PM Thursday. In this example,the auto-away feature is simply inactive during the Sleep state between10:00 PM and 7:00 AM, and the setpoint is increased according to theschedule on Thursday morning at 7:00 AM. However, since no occupancy isdetected, the auto-away feature triggers a state change back toAway-Normal following the ASCW passage at 8:30 AM, and the setpoint ischanged to the AST. Then, at 9:30 AM the state of the conditionedenclosure is changed to Away-Vacation since 24 hours (the vacation-stateconfidence window (VSCW)) has passed since the initial change toAway-Normal and no occupancy has been detected in the interim. At 9:30AM the setpoint is to the AVST (away vacation state temperature), whichis 45 degrees F. in this example. Note that according to someembodiments, the VSCW is measured from the last occupancy detectedinstead of the time of state change to Away-Normal, which would resultin changing to Away-Vacation state at 8:00 AM on Thursday.

According to some embodiments, the user is provided with an ability(e.g., during initial setup interview, by the Web interface, etc.) tovary the ASCW according to a desired energy saving aggressiveness. Forexample, a user who selects a “highly aggressive” energy saving optioncan be provided with an ASCW of 45 minutes, with the result being thatthe system's “auto-away” determination will be made after only 45minutes of inactivity (or “away” or “unoccupied” sensing state).

Various methods for sub-windowing of the ASCW time period and filteringof sensed activity can be used to improve the reliability of thetriggering of the “auto-away” feature to change the state to theAway-Normal state. Various learning methods for “understanding” whethersensed activity is associated with human presence versus other causes(pets, for example) can also be used to improve the reliability of thetriggering by the “auto-away” feature. According to some embodiments, a“background” level of sensed activity (i.e., activity that can beattributed to sensed events that are not the result of human occupancy)can be interactively learned and/or confirmed based on the absence ofcorrective manual setpoint inputs during an Away-Normal period. Forexample, if there are no corrective manual setpoint changes for a periodof time following after the “auto-away” mode is triggered, and suchabsence of corrective input repeats itself on several differentoccasions, then it can be concluded that the type and/or degree ofsensed activity associated with those intervals can be confirmed asbeing “background” levels not associated with human presence, thereasoning being that if a human were indeed present, there would havebeen some type of corrective activity on one or more of such occasions.

In a manner similar to the “auto-away” occupancy evaluation, thetriggering by the “auto-arrival” feature to the Home state is likewisepreferably based on sub-windowed time windows and/or filtering of thesensed activity, such that spurious events or other events notassociated with actual human presence do not unnecessarily trigger the“auto-return” mode. As described above, according to some embodimentsthe sensing process involves separately evaluating 5-minute subwindow“buckets” (or subwindows of other suitable duration) of time in terms ofthe presence or absence of sensed activity during those subwindows. Ifit is found that a threshold amount of activity is sensed in twoadjacent ones of those time subwindows, then the “auto-arrival” featuretriggers a state change back the Home or Sleep state, depending on thetime of day. See, for example, the time 408 of FIG. 4D. Upon triggering,the “auto-return” mode operates by returning the setpoint to the normalsetpoint schedule 402.

Provided according to one embodiment is an algorithm for setpointschedule modification based on occupancy patterns and/or correctivemanual input patterns associated with repeated instances of “auto-away”triggering and/or “auto-arrival” triggering. Occupancy and/or correctivemanual input behaviors associated with “auto-away/auto-arrival” featuresare continuously monitored and filtered at multiple degrees of timeperiodicity in order to detect patterns in user occupancy that can, inturn, be leveraged to “trim” or otherwise “tune” the setpointtemperature schedule to better match actual occupancy patterns. Byfiltering at multiple levels of time periodicity, it is meant thatassociated patterns are simultaneously sought (i) on a contiguouscalendar day basis, (ii) on a weekday by weekday basis, (iii) on aweekend-day by weekend-day basis, (iv) on a day-of-month by day-of-monthbasis, and/or on the basis of any other grouping of days that can belogically linked in terms of user behavior. Thus, for example, if aparticular occupancy and/or corrective manual input behavior associatedwith “auto-away/auto-arrival” is observed for a series of successiveFridays, then the setpoint temperature schedule for Fridays is adjustedto better match the indicated occupancy pattern. If a particularoccupancy and/or corrective manual input behavior associated with“auto-away/auto-arrival” is observed for both a Saturday and Sunday, andthen for the next Saturday and Sunday, and then still for the followingSaturday and Sunday, then the setpoint temperature schedule forSaturdays and Sundays is adjusted to better match the indicatedoccupancy pattern detected. As yet another example, if a particularoccupancy and/or corrective manual input behavior associated with“auto-away/auto-arrival” is observed for the 2^(nd) through 7^(th) dayof the month for several months in a row, then the setpoint temperatureschedule for the 2^(nd) through 7^(th) day of the month is adjusted, andso on. According to some preferred embodiments, two “autoaway/auto-arrival” events that occur on consecutive similar days (e.g.two consecutive weekdays or on the same days of the week for twoconsecutive weeks) that (a) are within a predetermined time of day ofeach other (e.g. within 60 minutes), and (b) are not corrected manually(i.e. there is no associated “punishing” behavior), then the standardschedule will either be automatically modified or the change will beproposed to a user.

FIGS. 7A-7D illustrate one example of setpoint schedule modificationbased on occupancy patterns and/or corrective manual input patternsassociated with repeated instances of “auto-away” and/or “auto-arrival”triggering according to some embodiments. Plot 710 is the normalsetpoint schedule for FIGS. 7A-7C, and plots 712, 714 and 716 show theactual operating setpoint in FIGS. 7A, 7B and 7C respectively. Finally,plot 720 shows the “tuned” or modified setpoint schedule in FIG. 7D. Forthis example, it is observed over time that, for a user whose normalsetpoint temperature indicates they are home all day on weekdays, the“auto-away” feature will trigger the state change to Away-Normal at nearnoon on Wednesday for multiple weeks (FIGS. 7A-7C) without anycorrective manual user inputs, and then the “auto-arrival” mode istriggered near 5:00 PM for those days. This may correspond, for example,to a retiree who has decided to volunteer at the local library onWednesdays. Once this pattern has been reliably established (forexample, after having occurred three Wednesdays in a row), then asillustrated in FIG. 7D, the normal setpoint temperature schedule isautomatically “tuned” or “trimmed” such that, for the followingWednesday and all Wednesdays thereafter, there is an “away” periodscheduled for the interval between 10:00 AM and 5:00 PM, because it isnow expected that the user will indeed be away for this time interval.

According to some embodiments, a pattern is reliably established by twoconsecutive events (e.g. based only two of the three Wednesdays in FIGS.7A-C, instead of all three Wednesdays). Further according to someembodiments, the “tuned” or modified schedule 720 is not automaticallyadapted, but rather is proposed to a user. This can be performed, forexample, in cases where the user has indicated a preference to be“asked” about updated schedules, rather than have them automaticallyadopted. According to some other embodiments, the new schedule 720 isonly adopted automatically or proposed to a user in cases there aestimated cost and/or energy saving is above a predetermined thresholdor percentage.

Importantly, if there had occurred a corrective user input (which can becalled a “punishing” user input) on one of the days illustrated in FIGS.7A-7C, then the setpoint schedule is not automatically “tuned” to thatshown in FIG. 7D. Such corrective or “punishing” input could occur forcircumstances in which (i) the auto-away mode has been triggered, (ii)there is not enough sensed occupancy activity (after filtering for“background” events) for the “auto-arrival” feature to trigger a statechange, and (iii) the user is becoming uncomfortable and has walked upto the thermostat to turn up the temperature. By way of example, it maybe the case that instead of going to the library on Wednesday at 10:00AM, the user went upstairs to read a book, with a sole first-floorthermostat not sensing their presence and triggering auto-away at 12:00PM, the user then becoming uncomfortable at about 12:45 PM and thencoming downstairs to manually turn up the temperature. Because theuser's “punishing” input has made it clear that the algorithm is“barking up the wrong tree” for this potential pattern, the setpointschedule is not automatically “tuned” to plot 720 as shown in FIG. 7D,and, in one embodiment, this potential pattern is at least partiallyweighted in the negative direction such that an even higher degree ofcorrelation will be needed in order to establish such pattern in thefuture. Advantageously, for the more general case, the user's“punishing” inputs may also be used to adjust the type and/or degree offiltering that is applied to the occupancy sensing algorithms, becausethere has clearly been an incorrect conclusion of “inactivity” sensedfor time interval leading up to the “punishing” corrective input.

Whereas the “auto away/auto arrival” algorithm of the above-describedembodiments is triggered by currently sensed occupancy information, inanother embodiment there is provided automated self-triggering of “autoaway/auto arrival” algorithm based on an empirical occupancy probabilitytime profile that has been built up by the thermostat unit(s) over anextended period of time. For one embodiment, the empirical occupancyprobability time profile can be expressed as a time plot of a scalarvalue (an empirical occupancy probability or EOP) representative of theprobability that one or more humans is occupying the enclosure at eachparticular point in time. Any of a variety of other expressions (e.g.,probability distribution functions) or random variable representationsthat reflect occupancy statistics and/or probabilities can alternativelybe used rather than using a single scalar metric for the EOP.

For one embodiment, the thermostat unit is configured to self-triggerinto an Away-Normal state at one or more times during the day that meetthe following criteria: (i) the normal setpoint schedule is indicativeof a scheduled “at home” time interval, (ii) the empirical occupancyprobability (EOP) is below a predetermined threshold value (e.g., lessthan 20%), (iii) the occupancy sensors do not sense a large amount ofactivity that would unambiguously indicate that human occupants areindeed present in the enclosure, and (iv) the occupancy sensors have notyet sensed a low enough level of activity for a sufficiently longinterval (i.e., the away-state confidence window or ASCW) to enter intothe “auto away” mode in the “conventional” manner previously described.Once these conditions are met and the “auto-away” mode has beenself-triggered, reversion out of the “auto away” mode can proceed in thesame manner (e.g., by “auto-arrival” triggering, manual corrective userinput, etc.) as for the “conventional” auto-away mode. Automated tuningof the setpoint temperature schedule based on the “lessons learned”(i.e., based on occupancy patterns and/or corrective manual inputpatterns associated with repeated instances of “auto-away” mode) can bebased on the combined observations from the “conventionally” triggeredauto-away mode and the self-triggered auto-away mode algorithms.

The above-described self-triggering of the “auto-away” mode, which isbased at least in part on empirical occupancy probability (EOP), hasbeen found to provide for more complete and more statistically precise“tuning” of the setpoint temperature schedule when compared to tuningthat is based only on the “conventional” auto-away triggering method inwhich only current, instantaneous occupancy information is considered.One reason relates to the large number of activity-sensing data samplesused in generating the EOP metric, making it a relevant and useful basisupon which to perform the occupancy “test” afforded by the “auto-away”process. From one perspective, the “auto-away” process can be thought ofas a way to automatically “poke” or “prod” at the user's ecosystem tolearn more detail about their occupancy patterns, without needing to askthem detailed questions, without needing to rely on the correctness oftheir responses, and furthermore without needing to rely exclusively onthe instantaneous accuracy of the occupancy sensing hardware.

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating various states a conditioned enclosuremay be classified into, according to some preferred embodiments. Theembodiments of FIG. 8 represent one or more features of anauto-away/auto-arrival algorithm that can be used as an alternative to,or in some cases in conjunction with, the embodiments described withrespect to FIG. 5, supra. Notably, there is no separate “Sleep” statefor the embodiment of FIG. 8, although the scope of the presentteachings is not so limited. Instead of having a separate “Sleep” state,there is provided a condition for entering into an Away-Normal state 820that the time of day is not between 8 PM and 8 AM if the conditionedenclosure is not a business. The state will transition from Away-Normalstate 820 to Home state 810 for non-businesses during the hours of 8 PMand 8 AM.

Shown in FIG. 8 are three states: Home state 810, in which thethermostat generally follows a scheduled program (unless, for example,it is under a manual override setpoint); Away-Normal state 820 (whichcan also be referred to as “intra-day away” and/or “intra-day auto-away”states in the description herein) during which the setpoint temperatureis set to an energy saving level, such as the AST; and Away-Vacationstate 830 (which can also be referred to as “inter-day away” and/or“inter-day auto-away” states) during which the setpoint temperature isset to an energy saving level such as the AVST. According to someembodiments, the AST and the AVST are set to the same temperature forsimplicity. Depending on the particular manner in which state of theenclosure has transitioned into the “Home” state 810, the “Home” state810 can alternatively be referred to as an “arrival” state, or an“auto-arrival” state (the thermostat entered back into a “home” state byvirtue of sensed occupancy activity), or a “manual arrival” state (thethermostat entered back into a “home” state because it was physicallymanipulated by a walk-up user, or the current setpoint temperature waschanged by a remote user using a cloud-based remote control facility).

According to some embodiments, transitioning from the Home state 810 tothe Away-Normal state 820 can happen if either (i) all of a first set ofconditions 812 are met, or (ii) all of a second set of conditions 814are met. The conditions 812 include that the Auto-away feature isenabled, and the time since the last sensed activity is greater than theASCW, which according to some embodiments is initially set to 120minutes. According to some embodiments, the activity sensor data is“collected” into timewise “buckets,” and the algorithm will look for anumber of consecutive empty buckets to make a determination that thatthere is no sensed occupant activity. According to some preferredembodiments, the buckets are 5 minutes in duration and the ASCW isinitially implemented as being equal to 24 buckets (which corresponds toabout 2 hours). However, according some embodiments other sizes ofbuckets, and numbers of buckets can be used, or other schemes ofdetecting occupancy (or non-occupancy) can be implemented.

The conditions 812 also include the away setpoint temperature being atleast as efficient as the setpoint temperature currently in effect,since otherwise moving to an “Away” state would not conserve energy. Asstated previously, the conditions for entering intra-day auto-away froma “Home” state further include that the time of day should be between 8AM and 8 PM (or other suitable “non-sleep” time interval) for aresidential installation. No such limitation is used for businessinstallations, since occupant sleep is usually not an issue, andtherefore entry into an energy-saving “Away” state for those hours ishighly beneficial if there is no sensed activity. Conditions 812 furtherinclude a condition that the time since a most recent manipulationshould be less than the ASCW, where “manipulation” refers to either amanual walk-up interaction with the thermostat (such as rotating thering/dial or an inward click), or an interaction via a remote web and/orPC interface that takes the thermostat out of the away state. Take, forexample, a scenario in which an occupant leaves their dwelling at 9:00AM, and goes to work in an office. At the office, the user logs inremotely (either directly to the thermostat or via a cloud-based serveras discussed in one or more of the commonly assigned incorporatedapplications) and makes a change to some thermostat settings at 10:00AM. Assuming the other of conditions 812 to have been satisfied startingat 11:00 AM (9:00 AM plus the 2-hour ASCW), the Away-Normal state 820will actually not be entered until Noon (10:00 AM plus the 2 hour ASCW)rather than at 11:00 AM, due to the “manipulation” (by web interface)that took place at 10:00 AM.

The conditions 812 also include that the time since the last scheduledsetpoint change (or the most recently “encountered” scheduled setpointchange) is greater than the ASCW. For example, if the occupants leavethe dwelling at 5 PM, and there is a scheduled setpoint change at 6 PM,and the ASCW is 2 hours, then an Away state will not be entered until atleast 8 PM instead of 7 PM. The conditions 812 also include that, if thethermostat is operating according to a manual override, i.e., the userhas walked up to the thermostat and adjusted the current setpointtemperature by rotating the dial (as opposed to scheduling a setpointusing a scheduling facility), or has performed an equivalent action overthe remote network interface, the auto-away state will not be entered aslong as that manual override setpoint is in effect. Notably, accordingto some embodiments, any manual override will stay in effect until thenext scheduled setpoint is encountered. One example where this conditioncan be useful is if a user is home sick from work, and so manually turnsup the dial from the usual scheduled setpoint temperature. Assumingthere are no scheduled setpoints that take effect during the day, thismanual override will last until the end of the working day, when therewill usually be a scheduled setpoint that raises the temperature,thereby taking the manual override out of effect. Advantageously, due tothis no-manual-override condition, the Auto-Away mode will not takeeffect during this day when the user is home sick and has manuallyturned up the dial before going back to bed. The conditions 812 alsoinclude that the thermostat should not be in the “OFF” mode. Another ofthe conditions 812 is that, if the thermostat does not yet have enough“confidence” that its occupancy sensors are producing sufficientlyreliable occupancy data, as described in one or more of the commonlyassigned incorporated applications, then the Away-Normal state 820 willnot be entered. This can be the case, for example, if the thermostat 300has been installed in a place in the home that cannot “see” occupantactivity very well, such as if it has been placed behind a bookshelf, orat the end of a dead-end hallway that does not receive much traffic. Byautomatically processing sensor data over a period of time afterinstallation, and comparing this data to other information such as timesof day and manual walk-up user dial interactions, the thermostat 300 isadvantageously capable of “disqualifying itself” due to “low sensorconfidence” from the described auto-away activities if it is determinedthat it will not be able to reliably draw a line between inactivity andoccupant activity.

The conditions 814 pertain to the situation where there are multiplethermostats installed in the same structure, which will be described infurther detail below. Preferably, as will be discussed in furtherdetail, all of the installed thermostats should “agree” before moving toan Away state. If there is another thermostat in the structure which hasan auto-away flag (AAF) set to “ON” then the thermostat will also setits AAF to “ON” so long as this thermostat itself has not sensed anyactivity within the ASCW, it is not turned “OFF,” auto-away is enabled,and the time is not between 8 PM and 8 AM (if a non-business structure).Notably, according to some embodiments, the current thermostat will notinterfere with another thermostat's decision to move into an Away stateeven if the current thermostat has low sensor confidence, for example.

Referring now again to FIG. 8, once the thermostat has entered into anintra-day auto-away state (Away Normal state 820), it will remain inthat state until either (i) a first set of conditions 816 are met, inwhich case it will transition back to the “Home” state 810, or (ii) asecond set of conditions 822 are met, in which case it will transitionto an away-vacation state 830. For transitioning back to “Home” fromintra-day auto-away, the conditions 816 include an “auto-arrival”determination. One condition that has been found particularly useful fora variety of different reasons implements a kind of “latch” mechanismfor the intra-day auto-away state, such that when the thermostatswitches over into the intra-day auto-away state, it is “latched” intothat state for a certain period of time and will not return to the“Home” state even if there would otherwise be an auto-arrivaldetermination, this certain period of time being termed herein anauto-arrival inhibition window (AAIW). If the time since entering theAway-Normal state 820 is within the auto-arrival inhibition window(AAIW) as will be described in further detail with respect to FIG. 9,the state will remain in the Away-Normal state 820 even though activityis sensed and/or a scheduled setpoint is encountered. The AAIW accordingto some embodiments, is set to 30 minutes. If the AAIW has passed, thensensor activity in N consecutive buckets will cause a return to the Homestate 810. The value of N, according to some embodiments, can beadjusted to make the auto-arrival function more or less sensitive todetected activity. According to some embodiments the value of N isinitially set to two, such that if there is sensed activity for twoconsecutive buckets then an auto-arrival occurs. If the AAIW has passed,then an encountered scheduled setpoint will also cause an auto-arrival.A walk-up manual interaction with the thermostat (such as by rotatingthe ring or inward clicking) and/or a remote access manual interaction,such as through a remote access network facility, can also take thethermostat out of the Away-Normal state 820 and back to Home state 810.Finally, the thermostat will return to the Home state 810 if either theauto-away feature is disabled or the thermostat is turned “OFF.” It isto be appreciated that the described auto-away and auto-arrivalfunctionalities of FIGS. 4A-10B are preferably provided in conjunctionwith an independent “manual away” and “manual arrival” functionality ofthe thermostat 300. For some embodiments, as described in one or more ofthe commonly assigned incorporated applications, there is provided anability for the user to directly and instantly invoke an “Away” mode,either by walking up to the thermostat dial and selecting “Away” on amenu, or by selecting an “Away” button or menu choice using the remoteaccess facility. For such case, which can be termed a “manual away”mode, in some embodiments the thermostat operates continuously andperpetually at the energy-saving AST (away state temperature) regardlessof what the schedule would otherwise dictate, and regardless of anysensed occupant activity, until such time as the user manually takes thethermostat out of the “manual away” mode by virtue of a “manualarrival.” For some embodiments, a “manual arrival” is achieved simply bywalking up to the dial and giving any type of input (such as by rotatingthe ring or inward clicking), or by doing any kind of interaction uponlogging into the remote network access facility.

Referring now again to FIG. 8, the thermostat can transition from theAway Normal state 820 to the Away-Vacation state 830 if all of theconditions 822 are met. To move to the Away-Vacation state 830, the timesince the last sensed activity (or the last non-empty bucket) should begreater than the VSCW, which according to some preferred embodiment is 2days (or 48 hours). Also, the time since the last manipulation (i.e. viauser interaction of rotating ring and/or inward click) should also begreater than the VSCW.

According to some embodiments, transitioning from the Home state 810directly to the Away-Vacation state 830 can happen if all of theconditions 832 are met. Note that in many cases, the Away-Vacation state830 will be entered from the Away-Normal state 820 rather than from theHome state 810. In other cases, however, the thermostat state can movedirectly to the Away-Vacation state from the Home state. Thus, forexample, in a typical simple situation in which there are four scheduledsetpoints per day (representing wake, work, evening, and sleep, forexample) but the user has left on vacation, the thermostat willtransition between “Away-Normal” and “Home” for the first day or two,transitioning from “Away-Normal” back to “Home” for each scheduledsetpoint and then returning to Away-Normal after each ASCW (e.g., 2hours) has expired, until the VSCW is reached. If the thermostat happensto be in “Home” mode at the time the VSCW is reached, then thetransition is directly from “Home” to “Away-Vacation,” whereas if thethermostat happens to be in “Away-Normal” mode at the time the VSCW isreached, then the transition is directly from “Away-Normal” to“Away-Vacation.” Notably, if there are very frequent scheduled setpointchanges (more frequent than the ASCW, such as one setpoint per hour)then the Away-Normal state may never be entered, and the thermostat willgo directly from “Home” to “Away-Vacation” when the VSCW is reached.Conditions 832 dictate that, to move from “Home” state 810 to theAway-Vacation state 830, the auto-away function must be enabled and theactivity sensors should have sufficient confidence. Additionally, as inthe case of conditions 822, the time since the last sensed activity (orthe last non-empty bucket) and the time since the last manipulation(i.e. via user interaction of rotating ring and/or inward click) shouldbe greater than the VSCW.

According to some embodiments, transitioning from the Away-Vacationstate 830 back to the Home state 820 can happen if any of the conditions834 are met. The conditions 834 include any manual manipulation of thethermostat (walk-up or web), sensing of activity in N consecutivebuckets (for example 2 buckets of 5 minutes each), or when auto-away isdisabled or the thermostat is turned off.

Further detail will now be provided regarding the ASCW (away stateconfidence window) and the AAIW (auto-arrival inhibition window). FIG. 9illustrates plots 910 and 920 that relate to the determination ofoptimal time thresholds for (i) triggering an auto-away state, and (ii)temporarily inhibiting an auto-arrival state upon entry into anauto-away state, based on empirical data from a population of actualhouseholds. In the example of FIG. 9, the experiment is performed for asingle household, but the method is readily generalized for multiplehouseholds by suitable statistical combinations of their individualresults. The experiment can proceed as follows. For a time period ofNDAYS (which may be, for example, a 30-day period although otherdurations are readily applicable), occupancy sensor activity is trackedfor the household and characterized in terms of time buckets of apredetermined duration, such as 5 minutes (although other time bucketdurations are readily applicable). More particularly, the occupancypattern is characterized by a binary function E(k) that, for anyparticular kth time bucket, is equal to “0” if there was no sensedactivity (no “occupancy event”) in that interval, and is equal to “1” ifthere was sensed activity (an “occupancy event”) in that interval. Shownin FIG. 9 is a plot 910 of the function E(k) that characterizes 288 timebuckets (24 hours divided by 5 minutes) for each day, for a period ofNDAYS, where there is a mark 912 representative of each occupancy event.According to an embodiment, it is desirable to characterize thepredictive value that any particular occupancy event may have withrespect to the subsequent occupancy events occurring thereafter, andthen to process that information to determine optimal auto-awaythresholds. Such a characterization can be found by forming a plot ofsubsequent occupancy event arrival times for each occupancy event, andthen summing those plots over all occupancy events to form a histogram.Mathematically, these steps are equivalent to computing anautocorrelation of the function E(k), which is shown at plot 920. It hasbeen found that, for practical experimental data taken over a populationof households, the autocorrelation function (or a suitable smoothedversion thereof) will have a central lobe that falls to a valleysomewhere near a first time value T1, and then a first side lobe thatbegins rising out of that valley at a subsequent time T2. According to apreferred embodiment, the value T1 is used as a time threshold fortriggering an auto-away state (ASCW, supra), while the difference(T2−T1) is used as the time interval for temporarily inhibiting anauto-arrival state upon entry into an auto-away state (AAIW, supra). Inone series of real-world experiments, it has been found that T1 tends tohover around 120 minutes, while T2 tends to hover around 150 minutes. Inone preferred embodiment, there is a single set of thresholds T1 and T2that are used in all thermostats that are provisioned to customers,these numbers being computed previously during product development basedon large statistical samples. For another preferred embodiment, theprocess shown in FIG. 9 (i.e., occupancy event tracking,autocorrelation, and determination of T1 and T2 from the lobes of theautocorrelation plot) is automatically performed by the thermostat foreach individual installation, thereby providing a custom set ofthresholds T1 and T2 that are optimal for each particular household. Forstill another preferred embodiment, the occupancy event tracking isperformed by each thermostat, while the plots E(k) are communicated upto a cloud server that performs the described autocorrelation and/or anyof a variety of other statistical algorithms to determine optimal valuesfor T1 and T2, and those values are then downloaded from the cloudserver to that individual thermostat.

According to some embodiments, certain adjustments or adaptations can bemade to improve the auto-away auto-arrival behavior. If a user manuallyenters an “away” mode (which can be referred to as an “Away-Manual”state that is not shown in FIG. 8) then it is assumed that the residenceis unoccupied—and if the occupancy sensors detect activity then itshould be assumed that it is a false positive. Accordingly, according tosome embodiments, during an “Away-Manual” state, a check is made to seeif an auto-arrival had been detected by the activity sensors (i.e.sensor activity is detected in the last N consecutive buckets) then thealgorithm is adjusted to make auto-arrival more robust (i.e. lesssensitive). According to one preferred embodiment, if sensor activity isdetected in the last N consecutive buckets within the previous 30minutes of an “Away-Manual” state, then the number N is incremented byone.

According to another example, if the user makes a manual temperaturesetting (i.e. manual override) to a temperature below the leastenergetic setpoint (which is many cases is the away-state temperature)then it can be assumed that the user did this because the user expectsthe structure to become non-occupied. This can be interpreted similarlyto entering a “Manual Away” state, and accordingly if sensor activity isdetected in the last N consecutive buckets within the previous 30minutes, then the number N is incremented by one (so as to make theauto-arrival less sensitive—i.e. “more robust” in that a greater amountof bustle will be needed to trigger an auto-arrival determination).

According to some embodiments, the ASCW is adjusted based on a“punishing” behavior. For example, if the user manually brings thedevice from Away-Normal state 820 back to Home state 810 within thefirst 30 minutes of entering the Away-Normal state 820, then the ASCW isincreased. It has been found that increasing the ASCS by 30 minutes uponsuch occurrence is suitable for enhancing the operation of the auto-awayfunctionality in many cases. Optionally, principles similar to thosedescribed above in relation to FIGS. 7A-7D may automatically operate to“ratchet” the ASCW back down if it gets so large that the intra-dayauto-away state becomes rarely invoked.

According to some embodiments, the above-described auto-awayfunctionality is judiciously integrated with other aspects of theoperation of thermostat 300 hardware in a manner that achieves otherdesirable results. By way of example, for one preferred embodiment, theexistence and circumstances of the AAIW are advantageously leveraged toconserve electrical power consumption that would otherwise be used byand/or triggered by the occupancy detection hardware. Thus, in onepreferred embodiment, the occupancy sensing hardware in the thermostat300 (such as a passive infrared sensor, active infrared proximitysensor, ultrasound sensor, or other sensors) is disabled during theAAIW, since there is no need to sense something if no responsive actionis going to be taken anyway. For other preferred embodiments, theoccupancy sensing hardware can be disabled during “manual away” modeand/or away-vacation mode for similar reasons.

In accordance with the teachings of the commonly assigned U.S. Ser. No.13/269,501, supra, the commonly assigned U.S. Ser. No. 13/275,307,supra, and others of the commonly assigned incorporated applications,supra, for some embodiments the thermostat 300 can be an advanced,multi-sensing, microprocessor-controlled intelligent or “learning”thermostat that provides a rich combination of processing capabilities,intuitive and visually pleasing user interfaces, network connectivity,and energy-saving capabilities (including the presently describedauto-away/auto-arrival algorithms) while at the same time not requiringa so-called “C-wire” from the HVAC system or line power from a householdwall plug, even though such advanced functionalities can require agreater instantaneous power draw than a “power-stealing” option (i.e.,extracting smaller amounts of electrical power from one or more HVACcall relays) can safely provide. The thermostat 300 achieves these goalsat least by virtue of the use of a rechargeable battery (or equivalentlycapable onboard power storage medium) that will recharge during timeintervals in which the hardware power usage is less than what powerstealing can safely provide, and that will discharge to provide theneeded extra electrical power during time intervals in which thehardware power usage is greater than what power stealing can safelyprovide.

In order to operate in a battery-conscious manner that promotes reducedpower usage and extended service life of the rechargeable battery, thethermostat 300 is provided with both (i) a relatively powerful andrelatively power-intensive first processor (such as a Texas InstrumentsAM3703 microprocessor) that is capable of quickly performing morecomplex functions such as driving a visually pleasing user interfacedisplay and performing various mathematical learning computations, and(ii) a relatively less powerful and less power-intensive secondprocessor (such as a Texas Instruments MSP430 microcontroller) forperforming less intensive tasks, including driving and controlling theoccupancy sensors. To conserve valuable power, the first processor ismaintained in a “sleep” state for extended periods of time and is “wokenup” only for occasions in which its capabilities are needed, whereas thesecond processor is kept on more or less continuously (althoughpreferably slowing down or disabling certain internal clocks for briefperiodic intervals to conserve power) to perform its relativelylow-power tasks. The first and second processors are mutually configuredsuch that the second processor can “wake” the first processor on theoccurrence of certain events, which can be termed “wake-on” facilities.These wake-on facilities can be turned on and turned off as part ofdifferent functional and/or power-saving goals to be achieved. Forexample, a “wake-on-PROX” facility can be provided by which the secondprocessor, when detecting a user's hand approaching the thermostat dialby virtue of an active proximity sensor (PROX, such as provided by aSilicon Labs SI1142 Proximity/Ambient Light Sensor with I2C Interface),will “wake up” the first processor so that it can provide a visualdisplay to the approaching user and be ready to respond more rapidlywhen their hand touches the dial. As another example, a “wake-on-PIR”facility can be provided by which the second processor will wake up thefirst processor when detecting motion somewhere in the general vicinityof the thermostat by virtue of a passive infrared motion sensor (PIR,such as provided by a PerkinElmer DigiPyro PYD 1998 dual elementpyrodetector). Notably, wake-on-PIR is not synonymous with auto-arrival,as there would need to be N consecutive buckets of sensed PIR activityto invoke auto-arrival, whereas only a single sufficient motion eventcan trigger a wake-on-PIR wake-up.

Generally speaking, the wake-on-PROX facility will most often be enabledat all times, since the PROX sensor is preferably configured to detectvery meaningful user motion very near (e.g., within 0.75 meter or less)of the thermostat. According to one preferred embodiment, thewake-on-PIR facility is never activated during a “Home” state, so thatelectrical power for the thermostat is conserved by avoiding unnecessarywake-ups of the first processor, while the wake-on-PIR facility isactivated during an auto-away state, such that the first processor willbe able to assess the meaning of detected motion activity (includingentering auto-arrival of there have been N consecutive buckets of sensedactivity). For one preferred embodiment, however, the wake-on-PIRfacility is kept inactive during the AAIW (auto-arrival inhibitionwindow) to further save power, since the first processor will not beentering auto-arrival mode during that period anyway.

For one preferred embodiment, the following wake-on and first processorwake-up rules are applicable. As discussed above, the wake-on-PIRfacility is disabled during the “Home” state. During the Away-Normalstate, if the time since entering that state is less than the AAIW (suchas 30 minutes), then the wake-on-PIR facility is disabled but a timer isset to wake up the first processor at the end of that 30 minuteinterval. During the Away-Normal state, if the time since entering thatstate is more than the AAIW, then the wake-on-PIR facility is enabled,and a timer is set to wake up the first processor at the effective timeof the next setpoint in the thermostat schedule. During the Away-Normalstate, if there has been a wake-on-PIR event, then the wake-on-PIRfacility is disabled for the remaining duration of the time “bucket”interval used for auto-arrival determination (for example 5 minutes),and a timer is set to wake up the first processor at the beginning ofthe next “bucket” interval. This is advantageous in saving power for theremainder of that “bucket” interval, because the wake-on-PIR event hasalready filled that bucket, and any additionally sensed wake-on-PIRevents during that bucket would be superfluous and would just wastepower. The wake-on-PIR facility is then re-activated at the beginning ofthe next “bucket” interval. Advantageously, electrical power isconserved while at the same time enabling the detection of “N”contiguous buckets of sensed activity.

An analogous power-preserving scheme can also be employed for theAway-Vacation state. During the Away-Vacation state, if the time sinceentering that state is less than some threshold time period (which canbe the AAIW or some other suitable “latching” time period), then thewake-on-PIR facility is disabled but a timer is set to wake up the firstprocessor at the end of that interval. During the Away-Vacation state,if the time since entering that state is more than that threshold timeperiod, then the wake-on-PIR facility is enabled, and a timer is set towake up the first processor in 24 hours (or other suitable“sanity-check” interval). During the Away-Vacation state, if there hasbeen a wake-on-PIR event, then the wake-on-PIR facility is disabled forthe remaining duration of the time “bucket” interval used forauto-arrival determination, and a timer is set to wake up the firstprocessor at the beginning of the next “bucket” interval, therebyconserving electrical power for the remainder of the current “bucket”interval.

Further detail is provided hereinbelow with respect to operation whenmultiple thermostats are installed, according to some embodiments. FIG.10A illustrates a particular enclosure, such as a family home, which hasthree thermostats connected to two different HVAC systems, according tosome embodiments. The enclosure 1000 has thermostats 1010 and 1020 whichcontrol a downstairs HVAC system located 1042 on a downstairs floor andthermostat 1030 to control an upstairs HVAC system 1040 located on anupstairs floor. Where the thermostats have become logically associatedwith a same user account at a cloud-based management server 1060, thethree thermostats advantageously cooperate with one another in providingoptimal HVAC control of the enclosure as a whole. Such cooperationbetween the three thermostats can be direct peer-to-peer cooperation, orcan be supervised cooperation in which the central cloud-basedmanagement server supervises them as one or more of a master, referee,mediator, arbitrator, and/or messenger on behalf of the two thermostats.In one example, an enhanced auto-away capability is provided, wherein an“away” mode of operation is invoked only if both of the thermostats havesensed a lack of activity for a requisite period of time. For oneembodiment, each thermostat will send an away-state “vote” to themanagement server 1060 if it has detected inactivity for the requisiteperiod, but will not go into an “away” state until it receivespermission to do so from the management server. In the meantime, eachthermostat will send a revocation of its away-state vote if it detectsoccupancy activity in the enclosure. The central management server 1060will send away-state permission to all three thermostats only if thereare current away-state votes from each of them. Once in the collectiveaway-state, if any of the thermostats senses occupancy activity, thatthermostat will send a revocation to the cloud-based management server1060, which in turn will send away-state permission revocation (or an“arrival” command) to all three of the thermostats. Many other types ofcooperation among the commonly paired thermostats (i.e., thermostatsassociated with the same account at the management server) can beprovided without departing from the scope of the present teachings.

FIG. 10B illustrates examples of implementation of auto-awayfunctionality for multi-thermostat installation settings, according tosome embodiments. One preferred method by which that group ofthermostats (which includes thermostats 1010, 1020 and 1030) cancooperate to provide enhanced auto-away functionality is as follows.Each thermostat maintains a group state information object that includes(i) a local auto-away-ready (AAR) flag that reflects whether thatindividual thermostat considers itself to be auto-away ready, and (ii)one or more peer auto-away-ready (AAR) flags that reflect whether eachother thermostat in the group considers itself to be auto-away ready.The local AAR flag for each thermostat appears as a peer AAR flag in thegroup state information object of each other thermostat in the group.Each thermostat is permitted to change its own local AAR flag, but isonly permitted to read its peer AAR flags. It is a collective functionof the central cloud-based management server and the thermostats tocommunicate often enough such that the group state information object ineach thermostat is maintained with fresh information, and in particularthat the peer AAR flags are kept fresh. This can be achieved, forexample, by programming each thermostat to immediately communicate anychange in its local AAR flag to the management server, at which time themanagement server can communicate that change immediately with eachother thermostat in the group to update the corresponding peer AAR flag.Other methods of direct peer-to-peer communication among the thermostatscan also be used without departing from the scope of the presentteachings.

According to a preferred embodiment, the thermostats operate in aconsensus mode such that each thermostat will only enter into an actual“away” state if all of the AAR flags for the group are set to “yes” or“ready”. Therefore, at any particular point in time, either all of thethermostats in the group will be in an “away” state, or none of themwill be in the “away” state. In turn, each thermostat is configured andprogrammed to set its AAR flag to “yes” if either or both of two sets ofcriteria are met. The first set of criteria is met when all of thefollowing are true: (i) there has been a period of sensed inactivity fora requisite inactivity interval according to that thermostat's sensorssuch as its passive infrared (PIR) motion sensors, active infraredproximity sensors (PROX), and other occupancy sensors with which it maybe equipped; (ii) the thermostat is “auto-away confident” in that it haspreviously qualified itself as being capable of sensing statisticallymeaningful occupant activity at a statistically sufficient number ofmeaningful times, and (iii) other basic “reasonableness criteria” forgoing into an auto-away mode are met, such as (a) the auto-away functionwas not previously disabled by the user, (b) the time is between 8 AMand 8 PM if the enclosure is not a business, (c) the thermostat is notin OFF mode, (d) the “away” state temperature is more energy-efficientthan the current setpoint temperature, and (e) the user is notinteracting with the thermostat remotely through the cloud-basedmanagement server. The second set of criteria is met when all of thefollowing are true: (i) there has been a period of sensed inactivity fora requisite inactivity interval according to that thermostat's sensors,(ii) the AAR flag of at least one other thermostat in the group is“yes”, and (iii) the above-described “reasonableness” criteria are allmet. Advantageously, by special virtue of the second set of alternativecriteria by which an individual thermostat can set its AAR flag to“yes”, it can be the case that all of the thermostats in the group cancontribute the benefits of their occupancy sensor data to the groupauto-away determination, even where one or more of them are not“auto-away confident,” as long as there is at least one member that is“auto-away confident.” This method has been found to increase both thereliability and scalability of the energy-saving auto-away feature, withreliability being enhanced by virtue of multiple sensor locations aroundthe enclosure, and with scalability being enhanced in that the“misplacement” of one thermostat (for example, installed at an awkwardlocation behind a barrier that limits PIR sensitivity) causing thatthermostat to be “away non-confident” will not jeopardize theeffectiveness or applicability of the group consensus as a whole.

It is to be appreciated that the above-described method is readilyextended to the case where there are multiple primary thermostats and/ormultiple auxiliary thermostats. It is to be further appreciated that, asthe term primary thermostat is used herein, it is not required thatthere be a one-to-one correspondence between primary thermostats anddistinct HVAC systems in the enclosure. For example, there are manyinstallations in which plural “zones” in the enclosure may be served bya single HVAC system by virtue of controllable dampers that can stopand/or redirect airflow to and among the different zones from the HVACsystem. In such cases, there can be a primary thermostat for each zone,each of the primary thermostats being wired to the HVAC system as wellas to the appropriate dampers to regulate the climate of its respectivezone.

In the case 1050 shown in FIG. 10B, two of the three thermostats 1010and 1020 have AAR flags set to “Yes,” indicating they have not sensedactivity within the ASCW and other criteria are met. However the thirdthermostat 1030 has the AAR Flag set to “No,” for example, because ithas sensed activity recently. Since the not all of the thermostats haveAAR flags set to “Yes,” the decision is not unanimous and therefore theAway state is not entered by any of the thermostats. An example of case1050 might be that the sole occupant of the dwelling 1000 is upstairsfor an extended period of time and therefore only thermostat 1030 isdetecting occupancy.

In the case 1052, all of the thermostats 1010, 1020 and 1030 aresufficiently confident, have not sensed activity within the ASCW, andhave set their AAR flags to “Yes.” Accordingly, the decision to enterAway state is unanimous and the away state is implemented in all threethermostats.

In case 1052, one of the thermostats, 1020 has insufficient confidencein its activity sensor data. This could be, for example that it has beennewly installed, or it could be due to poor placement for occupancysensing (e.g. its “view” is severely limited by walls and/or doors). Theother two thermostats 1010 and 1030 have sufficient confidence, have notdetected activity within the ASCW and have set their AAR flags to “Yes.”In this case the thermostat 1020 “sees” the other “Yes” flags andchanges its flag to “Yes.” The decision is unanimous and the Away stateis implemented. In this case the thermostat 1020 that had low confidencewas not allowed to “veto” the decision of the two confident thermostats1010 and 1030.

Although the foregoing has been described in some detail for purposes ofclarity, it will be apparent that certain changes and modifications maybe made without departing from the principles thereof. It should benoted that there are many alternative ways of implementing both theprocesses and apparatuses described herein. Accordingly, the presentembodiments are to be considered as illustrative and not restrictive,and the inventive body of work is not to be limited to the details givenherein, which may be modified within the scope and equivalents of theappended claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for controlling temperature in aconditioned enclosure comprising: controlling temperature within theconditioned enclosure according to a setpoint temperature, an initialvalue of the setpoint temperature being from a preexisting schedule andrepresenting a temperature suitable for when one or more persons areoccupying the conditioned enclosure; periodically determining occupancybased on data received from one or more occupancy sensors adapted todetect occupancy within the conditioned enclosure; periodically updatingthe setpoint temperature upon expiration of a predetermined timeinterval during which no occupancy has been detected, the updatedsetpoint temperature requiring substantially less energy to maintainthan the initial value of the setpoint temperature; and periodicallymodifying the predetermined time interval based at least in part onreceived manual settings that indicate occupancy following the updatingthe setpoint temperature.
 2. A method according to claim 1 wherein thedetermining occupancy and periodically updating occur during daytimehours.
 3. A method according to claim 1 wherein the conditionedenclosure is at least part of a dwelling or a light commercial building.4. A method according to claim 1 wherein periodically updating thesetpoint temperature comprises updating the setpoint temperature to asetpoint temperature from the preexisting schedule.
 5. A methodaccording to claim 4 wherein periodically updating the setpointtemperature comprises returning the setpoint temperature to the initialvalue.
 6. A method for controlling temperature in a conditionedenclosure comprising: controlling temperature within the conditionedenclosure according to a setpoint temperature, an initial value of thesetpoint temperature being from a preexisting schedule and representinga temperature suitable for when one or more persons are occupying theconditioned enclosure; periodically determining occupancy based on datareceived from one or more occupancy sensors adapted to detect occupancywithin the conditioned enclosure; periodically updating the setpointtemperature upon expiration of a predetermined time interval duringwhich no occupancy has been detected, the updated setpoint temperaturerequiring substantially less energy to maintain than the initial valueof the setpoint temperature; and periodically modifying thepredetermined time interval based at least in part on prior receiveddata and prior automatic changes of the setpoint temperature in theconditioned enclosure.
 7. A method according to claim 6 wherein thedetermining occupancy and periodically modifying occur during daytimehours.
 8. A system for controlling temperature in a conditionedenclosure comprising: a thermostat that controls a heating, ventilatingand air conditioning (HVAC) system of the conditioned enclosure and thatclassifies the conditioned enclosure at least as being in an occupiedstate or an unoccupied state, the thermostat comprising: an occupancysensor for detecting occupancy within the conditioned enclosure, and amemory that stores: occupancy history information from the occupancysensor; a local flag having a value based on the occupancy historyinformation being consistent with the conditioned enclosure beingunoccupied; and one or more peer flags having values that correspond tolocal flags stored by one or more peer thermostats, each of the peerflags being updateable to reflect a value of a local flag of arespective one of the peer thermostats; and wherein the thermostat:updates the local flag at least according to information from theoccupancy sensor; receives information of the values of the local flagsof the one or more peer thermostats to update the peer flags; classifiesthe conditioned enclosure in the unoccupied state when the value of thelocal flag and values of all of the peer flags reflect that theoccupancy history information of the thermostat and all of the peerthermostats is consistent with the conditioned enclosure beingunoccupied; and controls the temperature in the conditioned enclosureaccording to a first schedule when the conditioned enclosure isclassified in the occupied state, and according to a second schedulewhen the conditioned enclosure is classified in the unoccupied state. 9.The system of claim 8, wherein the thermostat is capable ofdisqualifying a peer thermostat of the one or more peer thermostatsbased on insufficient sensed occupant activity at the peer thermostatbeing disqualified, such that the value of the peer flag correspondingto the peer thermostat that is disqualified is not considered when thethermostat classifies the conditioned enclosure.
 10. The system of claim9, wherein the thermostat is capable of requalifying a disqualified peerthermostat, based on the disqualified peer thermostat sensing apredetermined level of occupant activity, such that the value of thepeer flag corresponding to the peer thermostat that is requalified isagain considered when the thermostat classifies the conditionedenclosure.
 11. The system of claim 8, the thermostat further comprisinga wireless transceiver, and wherein the thermostat receives theinformation of the status of the local flag of at least one of the oneor more peer thermostats to update the peer flags, through peer to peercommunication with the at least one of the one or more peer thermostats,using the wireless transceiver.
 12. The system of claim 8, thethermostat further comprising a wireless transceiver, and wherein thethermostat receives the information of the status of the local flag ofat least one of the one or more peer thermostats to update the peerflags, from a cloud-based management server through the wirelesstransceiver.
 13. The system of claim 8, wherein the second scheduleincludes a temperature setpoint at an energy-saving temperature value,relative to a temperature setpoint at a corresponding time of day in thefirst schedule.
 14. The system of claim 8, further comprising the one ormore peer thermostats.
 15. A method for controlling temperature in aconditioned enclosure comprising: controlling a heating, ventilating andair conditioning (HVAC) system for the conditioned enclosure with athermostat that comprises: an occupancy sensor for detecting occupancywithin the conditioned enclosure; a processing system; and memory thatstores: occupancy history information from the occupancy sensor; a localflag having a value based on the occupancy history information beingconsistent with the conditioned enclosure being unoccupied; and one ormore peer flags having values that correspond to local flags stored byone or more peer thermostats, each of the peer flags being updateable toreflect a value of a local flag of a respective one of the peerthermostats; updating the local flag at least according to informationfrom the occupancy sensor; updating the peer flags according to receivedinformation of the values of the local flags of the one or more peerthermostats; classifying the conditioned enclosure, by the processingsystem, in the unoccupied state when the value of the local flag andvalues of all of the peer flags reflect that the occupancy historyinformation of the thermostat and all of the peer thermostats isconsistent with the conditioned enclosure being unoccupied; andcontrolling the temperature in the conditioned enclosure, by theprocessing system, according to a first schedule when the conditionedenclosure is classified in the occupied state, and according to a secondschedule when the conditioned enclosure is classified in the unoccupiedstate.
 16. The method of claim 15, further comprising disqualifying, bythe processing system, one of the one or more peer thermostats based oninsufficient sensed occupant activity, such that the value of the peerflag corresponding to the disqualified peer thermostat is not consideredwhen the thermostat classifies the conditioned enclosure.
 17. The methodof claim 16, further comprising requalifying, by the processing system,the disqualified peer thermostat, when the disqualified peer thermostatsenses a predetermined level of occupant activity, such that the valueof the peer flag corresponding to the requalified peer thermostat isagain considered when the thermostat periodically determinesclassification of the conditioned enclosure.
 18. The method of claim 15,further comprising receiving, by the thermostat, the information of thestatus of the local flag of at least one of the one or more peerthermostats to update the peer flags, through a wireless transceiver inpeer to peer communication with the at least one of the one or more peerthermostats.
 19. The method of claim 15, further comprising receiving,by the thermostat, the information of the status of the local flag of atleast one of the one or more peer thermostats to update the peer flags,through a wireless transceiver from a cloud-based management server. 20.The method of claim 15, wherein the second schedule includes atemperature setpoint at an energy-saving temperature value, relative toa temperature setpoint at a corresponding time of day in the firstschedule.